Flower Record Crocus

Crocus vernus 'Flower Record'

flower

Flower Record is a large-flowered Dutch crocus, a selection of Crocus vernus that opens deep glowing purple cups around a ruffled bright orange center, one of the very first flowers to break a late-winter garden. It is actually a corm rather than a true bulb, standing just three to four inches tall, and it naturalizes freely in lawns, rock gardens, and bed edges to form sheets of color in early spring. The flowers close at night and on dull days and open wide in sunshine, when they draw the first bees of the year. Note this is the spring crocus, not the unrelated and highly poisonous autumn crocus (Colchicum).

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Daffodil — The toxic, rodent-proof daffodils nearby help screen the tasty crocus corms from squirrels, and the two bloom in close succession
• Grape Hyacinth — Follows the crocus by a couple of weeks in matching blue-purple tones for a long early-bulb show
• Delft Blue Hyacinth — A taller, fragrant bulb that extends the early-spring display in the same bed

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Squirrels and chipmunks →

  They dig and eat the corms - lay wire mesh over fresh plantings, or interplant with toxic daffodils which they avoid

• Voles →

  These tunnel to bulbs from below; a handful of sharp grit in the planting hole deters them

• Aphids →

  Occasionally cluster on buds in warm spells - rinse off with water; rarely a real problem

🌸 Blooms & cutting

Crocus are grown for the early garden show rather than for cutting (the short-stemmed flowers close in low light and do not last in a vase). Simply enjoy them where they bloom and let the foliage ripen afterward. If you naturalize them in a lawn, hold off mowing that area until the crocus leaves have yellowed, usually by late spring, so the corms can build up for the next year.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

An ornamental early-spring corm and one of the first nectar and pollen sources of the year - on warm sunny days the open cups are worked by the first emerging bees, an important early-season food when little else is in bloom.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

The spring or Dutch crocus (Crocus vernus) is only mildly toxic if eaten and may cause minor stomach upset in pets. Do not confuse it with the unrelated autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), which blooms in fall and is severely poisonous - this spring crocus is the harmless one, but the two share the common name crocus.